“If you’ve seen a kid with autism, with severe autism, it’s hard to watch,” Makary said. But by saying that autistic people’s worst episodes are “hard to watch,” the Trump administration is inherently devaluing autistic people. And families are left with these autistic children who they’ve been told are damaged goods?” Killick asks. But stories abound of parents who kill their autistic children because they are “overwhelmed.”Already, the language from the White House is striking fear in autistic people. Liliya Wheatcraft, an autistic psychiatrist who lives in the United Kingdom, has two autistic children who are American citizens.